


exploration

by lemonzestiest



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Gen, Gender Identity, Gender Issues, SAM and Ryder have a nice chat abt gender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 09:56:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13432272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonzestiest/pseuds/lemonzestiest
Summary: A pathfinder is supposed to help others explore- and sometimes it's not always physical.





	exploration

Ryder ducked around the corner of the crate, hefting her gun. She fired six shots in rapid succession, followed by a quick overload pulse. The three raiders in front of her fell to the ground, dead, but there were still many more. Vetra began firing a huge volley into the crowd, and Ryder began to raise her gun again- 

 

“Pathfinder, something has come to my attention,” came SAM’s calm and robotic voice. 

 

Ryder’s eyebrows squished shut in confusion. “Now’s  _ really  _ not the time, SAM!” She fired a couple more shots. 

 

“Very well. Please return to SAM Node at your earliest convenience, Pathfinder.” 

 

Ryder frowned. What could possibly be so important that SAM would interrupt a battle to let her know? It didn’t usually do that, preferring to wait until she was back on the Tempest. 

 

Deep in her thoughts, Ryder didn’t notice a raider closing in on her, looking up to see the Nexus deserter coming down on her. She had half a second to raise her, gun, trying to at least get some cover, when the raider’s eyes went wide and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Jaal, his gun still smoking, held up his middle finger at her. 

 

“I will protect you, Ryder!” he shouted, still flipping her off. Ryder shot a confused look at Vetra. 

 

“I think he meant to do a thumbs up,” Vetra stage-whispered at her. Ryder collapsed in giggles. 

 

-

 

Several hours later, after killing several more groups of raiders, the small group had returned to the ship. Ryder showered and grabbed a snack bar to eat. Tracking Vetra down, she kissed her girlfriend on the cheek before heading back to the bridge to steer the ship back to the Nexus. 

 

When they arrived, she headed straight to the SAM Node, like it had asked, the door swishing open automatically. 

 

“Hello, Pathfinder. Thank you for meeting me here,” SAM said. 

 

“Hey, bud. What’s up? Is it another one of Dad’s memories or something?” Ryder asked. She frowned. “I thought we’d got all of those.” 

 

SAM was uncharacteristically silent for a moment. “No, Pathfinder. You have indeed collected all of your father’s memories. This query is of a more personal nature.” 

 

Ryder’s frown unwound, and she hopped up on the console, sitting down. “Oh, okay. Shoot. I’ll try to help in any way I can.” 

Again, SAM was silent for a few brief sentences. When it finally spoke, there was a strange note of hesitation in its mechanical voice. “Your father...designed me to be without a gender.” 

 

She nodded, thought logically she knew SAM couldn’t see her. “Yup, I remember that. I’ve been using ‘it’ pronouns for you. Do you want me to use ‘they’ instead?” 

 

“No thank you, Pathfinder. As stated, your father meant for me to be without gender, but he also designed me to learn and take on traits from my partner.” It paused again, and Ryder waited patiently for it to go on. “However, I am not required to. You identify as female, but that should not affect me. I fear something is wrong with my programming.” 

 

Ryder cocked her head. “You...identify as female? Is that what you’re saying?” 

 

“Yes, but because of this, I fear there is a fault in my code,” Sam responded, the same hesitation in its voice. 

 

Ryder shook her head and scoffed. “SAM, my father designed you to be genderless, sure, but he also designed you to learn from humanity. If that means you want to take on a female identity, even if it’s just influenced by my gender, that’s fine. In fact, I think that’s great!” She grinned widely. “It means you really are learning from humanity.” 

 

SAM was silent again. “...Do you truly believe so, Pathfinder?” 

 

“Of course, SAM,” she said passionately. “If it helps you describe yourself, then it’s a good thing.” 

 

A moment passed. “...Thank you, Pathfinder. Please refer to me with ‘she’ from now on,” she said, voice sounding as contented as a robot could. 

 

“Sure thing, girl,” Ryder replied, grinning. Being a Pathfinder was all about exploration. Sometimes, exploration was navigating yourself and your own feelings-Ryder knew that pretty well, thinking back on the first confusing days of crushing on a girl.

 

Later, cuddling in bed with Vetra- as well as she could cuddle with seven feet of hard bone-, Ryder poked her girlfriend’s cheek. 

 

“Hey. Babe,” she said, rousing Vetra from being half asleep. “Do you think I’m good at helping people through issues? Am I good at counseling?” 

 

Vetra grabbed the finger poking her and gently kissed the palm of her hand. Ryder giggled, smiling.

 

That was answer enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> remember that one post that was like "gender neutral robots are cool but i want a robot that is designed to have no gender but it sees a girl and is like 'wtf girls are cool. im a girl now bye'" and i thought of SAM. so here you go! 
> 
> first me:a fic!! sorry it's not romantic, but i just wanted to ease myself back into writing.


End file.
